


Courage of the Heart

by dianefresnel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-21 07:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18139493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianefresnel/pseuds/dianefresnel
Summary: When Anja Armleder first met Harry Potter, she didn't realise how much her life was about to change.(Book One)





	1. Meet the Armleders

_July 18, 1989_

_Vienna, Austria_

_Burg Armleder_ was a massive, remarkable structure, appearing to have been pulled right out of a fairy tale. It sat on the highest hills in the area, allowing the ever-present guards to look out over the valleys to see if any threat was approaching. It stood out, nestled in a forest of green trees in a part of the otherwise lively city where no one ever bothered to come. But the castle was huge and made of light grey stone, so it could be seen clearly from miles away.

Seen by wizards only, of course.

What the muggles saw was something akin to an old refrigerator manufacturing plant which was now in ruins, slowly withering away due to years of obvious neglect.

But to any wizard, it was an easily recognizable structure. The decorations that the castle underwent during it's annual Christmas celebrations was infamous and often made it on the front page of  _Das Orakel_. It was also renowned to have one of the highest numbers of poltergeists and ghosts in a single building in the country, although those were only rumours and speculations and had never been confirmed.

Besides, the occupants of the castle - the nth generation of the Armleder dynasty - or particularly the patriarch of the family, happened to be an extremely important man. Specifically,  _the_ most important man in the Austrian Wizarding community.

Friedrich Armleder was the present Minister of Magic of Austria, currently enjoying his fourth year in office. He had been the youngest man ever to win an election at only 37 years of age, earning a unanimous vote due to the sudden, mysterious death of his more popular, more charismatic opponent, Gabriel Hammerstein.

There was no doubt in the community that Armleder was to blame for the death, or murder, of the fan favourite _Hammerstein_. But to everyone's sock, the  _Austrian Department of Magical Regulators_  had determined that Hammerstein had died of undetermined circumstances and a few months later the case had been closed. That had been enough for people to guess that they had either been paid off or put under the Imperius by Armleder's people.

Everyone was, quite justifiably, unhappy with the way their government was being run, but there wasn't much that they could do. Being a descendant of a family filled with dark wizards and witches came with a lot of connections in all the wrong places. Or right. Depends on how you chose to perceive it.

So, he had all the resources in the world to hide his tracks well. But one thing he didn't seem to have were brains. Because turns out, Friedrich Armleder was a bigot. And not the keep-my-opinions-to-myself kind, but a massive, irreversible-damage-causing bigot. It was revealed in an exposé that his many crimes included giving orders to keep several Muggle-borns in the country unaware of their magical abilities, making special provisions for purebloods within the Ministry and only appointing Purebloods to places of power without considering their limited capabilities. And then there were a dozen financial charges, one of which was embezzlement of thousands of gallons of government funds and using the money to, allegedly, buy his adolescent daughter a Unicorn, which in itself was a crime since domesticating Unicorns was strictly prohibited in their country.

It was safe to say that there was now enough evidence out in the open to convict him of at least a dozen crimes and consequently impeaching him. Everyone was pleased.

Except for the Armleders, of course.

There was always commotion in their dining room in the past couple of weeks. People constantly coming in and going out of their castle, some of whom were friendly and others not so much. Noises now constantly echoed in the usually quiet rooms and hallways of their home. The most distinct was the panicked yelling of Friedrich Armleder, the stutters of his yes-men, the occasional sobs of Priscilla Armleder and the monotone voices of the investigative officers.

Tonight, however, everything seemed oddly intimate.

Priscilla had asked Tilly, their House-Elf, to prepare everyone's favourite meals while she sat with her husband at one end of their unreasonably long dinner table.

She'd always been a woman of great beauty, often called a Greek Goddess back during her school days. Even after all these years, her beauty still persisted and men everywhere continued to fawn over her. Not that she paid them any mind, there was only one man whose opinion ever mattered to her. Which is why even with all the despair and hopelessness she was feeling in the moment, she'd put on one of her best dresses tonight (the red one which Friedrich could never resist), styled her short, dark hair into elegant curls and sat there, holding her husband's hand with an encouraging smile.

"We could just go to Athens," she said softly, "Daddy's mansion is just lying empty there. We could go-"

"They're expecting us to go to Greece, darling. Lidringen says that the moment we land there the minister will have me arrested," Friedrich muttered, leaning his head against his wife's shoulder, "Greece is not an option."

He was a tall, blonde man with hard features and an intimidating presence.

"Well, what are our options then?" Priscilla asked.

"Well, there's Egypt, but you know how much those traitors love their Muggles. Couldn't survive there for a week. And France, but all it'll take is the cabinet to sign one treaty and they become best mates. We'll be in huge trouble then," he said, shaking his head, "Leaves us with only one option, really."

"The UK?"

Friedrich nodded, "Yeah. Bagnold owed me after I helped her get on good terms with the Germans. Lidringen's figuring out all the specifics with her. We're being granted asylum. He mentioned Scotland, I think. A nice house. Not as big as this one, of course, but it seems like a viable substitute."

They sat in grim silence, their fingers intertwined.

"Should we tell the kids?"

Priscilla thought about his question.

"Before we do, we need to figure out what to do about Kat's schooling," she said.

Friedrich raised his head from her shoulder and gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the plan was to move to Norway until they finished their schooling. Can't do that anymore, can we?" she said, "And there's no way I'm about to send my babies so far away from me."

"But Durmstrang is our Alma Mater, it's-it's where we met! Besides, I don't trust anyone else with my children's education," Friedrich said, "And Kat has been all excited about it for months now. I don't have the heart to tell her that she won't be attending anymore."

"Neither do I, but it has to be done," Priscilla said, "We could send her to Hogwarts?"

Friedrich scoffed, "Under Albus Dumbledore? I'd surrender myself before I ever let my daughters be brainwashed by that fool."

"I know he's not an ideal wizard, but our daughters are not stupid," Priscilla argued, "We've raised them well. They'll stick to our values, I'm sure of it. Besides, the Blacks have sent their children to Hogwarts for decades and they turned out just fine!"

"Half of the Blacks are traitors."

"The weak ones are. Bellatrix, Regulus and Sirius turned out just fine!"

"True, but Regulus is dead and the other two idiots went and got themselves caught!"

"You're one to talk," Priscilla muttered under her breath.

" _Darling_."

"Just joking," she said, gently massaging his biceps.

At first glance, his wife came off as a shallow person who cared about nothing but vanity and wealth. But only Friedrich knew the true cunning and wit behind those bright, blue eyes and soft, alluring smile. He knew she'd given this a thought and he trusted her enough to know she'd make the best decision for their family.

"Hogwarts, huh?"

She smiled and said, "Yes, Hogwarts."

"Alright, then," he said softly, "We'll tell them during dinner."

"I hope they'll understand," Priscilla whispered softly.

They didn't.

"NO! NO! NO!" Katrin screamed, pushing her dinner plate away from her with a pout. She was absolutely livid, her pale face turning a frightening shade of red.

"Darling," her father cooed, "We understand you're upset, but we have no other choice-"

"But you said I'd go to Durmstrang! And-and now y-you're saying I have to go to some stupid school-" she broke out into tears, "O-Oskar's going to D-durmstrang! A-and Sylvia too! I w-want to g-go too! Dad, please!"

As Friedrich got out of his chair and tried to comfort Katrin, Priscilla noticed that her younger daughter was silently staring down at her food and blinking rapidly. Priscilla knew that she was upset. While Katrin expressed her displeasure with tears and screaming, Anja always took a more silent route. 

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" she asked.

Anja nodded, "Yes."

"Are you upset about moving away?"

She sniffled and nodded meekly.

Priscilla frowned. That was odd. She'd expected Anja, of all people, to be happy about the move. Her younger daughter had always had trouble making friends, although she never understood why. Anja was a perfectly smart child who was always a pleasure to be around. She wasn't nearly as fussy or demanding as other children her age and was even extremely kind and soft-spoken. But she flat out refused to play with the other children in their social circle, unlike Katrin, who blended with them just fine. The only explanation Priscilla ever conjured up was that Anja often tended to be a little shy while most of the other children in their group were more outspoken.

She'd made a friend once, Priscilla remembered with a shiver. What a nightmare that had been. She'd befriended a girl who lived in one of the houses on the other side of the river that ran by their home. There was a catch, of course. The girl had been a muggle. When they'd found out, Friedrich had spent almost an hour scolding Anja and teaching her why it was so wrong of her to associate with those far lesser than her. After that, she herself had grounded the then six year old for a month. Anja hadn't spoken a word for over a month after that incident. But on the bright side, she'd never gone back to the river again.

It wasn't harsh, she'd told herself. It was necessary. She didn't want one of her darling daughters mingling with scum like that. Anja was above that. And Priscilla was certain that she knew that now.

"So, when are we moving?" Anja asked softly.

Always one to ask the important questions, Priscilla thought proudly.

"In a few weeks. Mr Lidringen and his men are helping us move out luggage to our new house, so you'll have to be good girls and pack up all your important items."

Anja nodded, "And Papa will be safe there?"

"Yes, we'll all be safe,  _schatzi_ ," Friedrich answered, pulling the now silently sobbing Katrin into his lap, "Mama and I will get good jobs and Kat will go to Hogwarts next month, which is as good a school as Durmstrang. And you will join her in two years."

Anja nodded slowly, "Okay. We can take Blu with us, can't we Papa?"

Blu was her pet Unicorn.

"I'm sorry, we can't, sweets," Priscilla said, "We'll have to give Blu away. But you can get a new pet when we get there."

"Don't worry, Anja, we could get a pretty kitten," Katrin said, giving her little sister a small smile.

Anja managed a weak smile before looking back down at her plate again. She finished up the remaining food quickly before excusing herself from the table, but not before promising to start packing up her bags soon.

However, packing her bags was the last thing on her mind. 

 


	2. Leaving it behind

Anja's parents kept Blu, her pet unicorn, in their premises, which were objectively large but nothing compared to the forests that were supposed to a Unicorn's natural habitat. Anja always felt guilty about confining Blu to such a small place, and so she often did the only one thing she could think of to make up for what she was making him miss out on - she sneaked him out of the castle. She was prohibited to leave the premises, but that didn't stop her.

And that was exactly what she did later that night once everyone had fallen asleep.

She'd sneaked out of the house, which very easy seeing as their house was big enough to easily get lost in it. There was an area in the far eastern corner of the castle grounds which was always unguarded. She'd managed to find a small, unused gate there several years ago. It had been covered in creepers and all sorts of magical plants which she'd had to weed out to make it useable.

It took her a few minutes to find Blu, who gently nuzzled her face. Anja patted the small bump on his head, which was slowly forming into a glorious horn. She realised with a pang of sadness that she wouldn't be here to see it.

"Let's go, shall we?"

Blu walked in front of her with an air of superiority, but she could tell by his slight trot that he couldn't wait to get out for the night. Once out and a little further into the forest, she walked up in front of him.

"Be back here in an hour, and don't let the humans see you."

He ignored her but she knew that he understood her words. They were extremely smart creatures, Unicorns.

"Alright then, go."

He was out of her sight within seconds. She smiled, before continuing her trek in the opposite direction.

The forest was always vast, lively, and diverse. Its canopy was eclipsed by walnut, hickory, and larch, who permitted rays of moonlight to shine through in the darkness. Curling creepers waved from many trees, and an array of flowers, which were scattered sporadically, contrasted against the otherwise homogeneous forest grounds.

A cacophony of noises, most belonging to owls, filled the night air and were accompanied by the swaying of treetops in the wind. 

Anja found herself on the banks of the river that she so often secretly frequented. She took off her sandals and walked over the rocky bank towards the water. She sat at the edge of the bank and let her feet dangle in the shallow water as she stared at the ripples that she was creating.

This could quite possibly be the last time she was enjoying the calm and serenity of her favourite place in the world. A few more days and she would no longer have the chance to come here.

A couple of years ago, she would have loved nothing more than to leave this place, but now, she couldn't imagine leaving.

"I knew I'd find you here," She heard a voice say from behind her.

Swiftly turning around she looked up to see a girl of her own age staring down at her. Her long blonde hair was gently flowing in the wind and there was a friendly smile on her face.

Instead of replying, Anja patted the spot next to her. She felt Emily settle down beside her and then another pair of feet, which were slightly longer, joined hers in the water.

"You're upset," Emily stated.

"Yes."

"Did your parents say something terrible again?" Emily asked with a sigh.

There had been a huge incident early on in their friendship where Katrin had found Anja and Emily reading Muggle books under a tree in the forest and snitched on them. Her parents had dragged her away after which she had been grounded for a long time. The next time she'd sneaked out to meet Emily again, Emily had been suspicious. So Anja had told her as much of the truth as she could without revealing her magical heritage.

_"Th-they don't like you very much," she had explained._

_"Why? Did I do something wrong?" Emily had asked worriedly._

_"No, No! You did nothing wrong! It's-it's them. They have certain... prejudices against certain people,"_ _Anja had said, ashamed._

_Emily had looked confused for a moment before a look of understanding had crossed her face._

_"So they don't like me because I'm Jewish?" she had asked, looking slightly disgruntled._

_Anja had nodded without meeting her eye. It wasn't the truth but it was the muggle equivalent of the truth. It had also been the only way to make Emily understand the problem without revealing anything to her._

_"Do you - do you think there's a problem with it too? With me being Jewish?"_

_Anja had stared at her with furrowed eyebrows. She was supposed to say yes. Her parents had always told her Muggles and Muggle-borns and Half-bloods alike were not worth her time and presence. That she shouldn't bother engaging with them. That it made her a traitor to do so._

_"No," she had answered with a small smile, "No problem at all."_

"No, not them. Well, maybe them," Anja answered.

"I don't understand. Help me out please," she said.

Anja looked at her for a moment. Emily was way taller than her, so she had to look up at her. She still had a smile on her face as she stared back at her. Emily was naturally a smiley person and over the years, Anja had caught on the habit. She found herself smiling at all times too, sometimes without any reason which, Katrin never failed to remind her, others found extremely odd.

Anja wondered how Emily would react to what she was about to tell her. She decided to get straight to it.

"I-I'm leaving."

Emily's eyebrows furrowed

"Huh?"

"We're moving away," Anja said a little more clearly this time. "Papa, Mama, Katrin and I, we're moving to London. Or Scotland, I think. I'm not sure."

Emily was staring at her for the most part, the smile now completely wiped off of her face.

"Oh."

"Yes."

"When?"

"In a couple of weeks."

"Oh."

"And, uh, you're never coming back?" Emily asked her wearily.

"No," Anja answered, "We're going to start school there."

"But-but I thought you were homeschooled!"

"They've decided to put us in actual school now," Anja lied. "And they want it to be some posh, English boarding school for some reason."

"Right."

"I'm sorry."

They sat in tense silence, moving their legs gently in the water, the ripples they were causing clashing into each other's.

Emily abruptly pulled her legs out of the water and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Anja asked her worriedly.

"I have some homework I need to do," she said without meeting her eyes.

Anja knew she was lying.

"Okay," she said, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

She walked away with rapid steps without looking back.

Anja didn't see her again for the next few days. She came to the river almost every other night but Emily never showed up. Anja wanted to be upset with her, but she couldn't bring herself to. She was already feeling too many things and she really didn't want to add being mad at her only friend on top of it.

One night she decided to Emily a note, just in case she decided to come to their spot in Anja's absence.

_Dear Emily,_

_We're leaving on Friday, I think. I know you're still upset, but it's the last chance we have to say goodbye. I'll be waiting here, as per usual. Please come._

_Love,_  
_Anja_

She'd left it under a rock near the tree that they had come to call 'their' tree.

The castle was bereft of all personal belongings now, most of it having been transferred to their new home. They'd finalised on England instead of Scotland and Anja had heard her father telling her mother that their house, while not a grand as their current one, was extravagant and located in a posh, Pureblood neighbourhood.

Anja felt the tiny amount of curiosity and excitement that she'd had die. She hated the people that her family surrounded themselves with now, and she'd hoped they'd find a slightly more... normal social group when they moved, but from the sounds of it, the only thing that would be changing would be the faces and not the beliefs. Their parties and dinners would still be filled with discussions of blood purity and superiority.

Aside from that, Mr Lidringen had already taken Blu away a few days before the day they were supposed to leave, which had taken away any little spirit that Anja had left. She'd spent hours crying in her room that afternoon after giving Blu one final hug and watching Mr Lidringen take him away. He'd assured her that Blu would be placed in the best possible environment where he would be with his own kind. Anja had no reason to doubt Mr Lidringen's word, but she still couldn't shake away the worry that was consuming her.

She'd only come out of her room late that evening after Katrin had convinced her to broom race her in their backyard. She'd let Anja win like she always did whenever she was upset, and Anja was grateful for that. Because in all honesty, she couldn't win a broom race against her sister if her life depended on it.

The day before the move, her father told her that they would be travelling by floo network in the middle of the night. But since the fireplace in their house was heavily regulated by the Ministry, they'd be using the fireplace of a shop a couple of kilometres away.

Thursday night after dinner, instead of going to her room and catching her a few hours of sleep before their great escape like the rest of her family, Anja sneaked out of the castle once again. Without Blu's company, the walked from her home to the river was fairly quick.

She spotted Emily's silhouette from a distance. She was leaning against the tree, staring off in the distance, unaware of Anja's presence.

"Did you get my letter?"

She turned around a little startled.

"Oh, it's you," she muttered, pressing her palm over her heart, "What letter are you talking about?"

"I left you a letter near the tree last week."

"Oh," Emily muttered, "Didn't get it."

"Must've swept away with the wind."

"Yeah."

They stared at each other unsurely.

"So..."

"So?"

"What did the letter say?"

"Oh, just that I was leaving soon," Anja said, before adding softly, "And that I wanted to see you tonight."

Emily swallowed shakily.

"How soon?' she asked.

Anja could tell she was on the verge of tears.

"Tonight."

Anja barely saw Emily running towards her before she was enveloped in a hug and Emily was crying on her shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry," she was saying, "I shouldn't have ignored you! I-I was so angry when you said you were leaving me."

"It's alright," Anja whispered, gently patting her back.

"N-no, it's not!" she insisted, "I wasted whatever little time we had left together because I was acting stupid."

"We still have a few hours left."

That only made her cry more.

When she had calmed down, she still had her arms wrapped tightly around Anja and was occasionally sniffling.

"I have something for you," she said, suddenly pulling away from her.

"Yeah?"

"When I told mama you were moving away, she suggested we get you a farewell gift," she said, digging into her bag, "She suggested we buy something from that shop downtown that I told you about. But what can I buy for the spoilt brat who already has everything?"

Since Emily couldn't see her home, Anja had told her she happened to live in the locality adjoining her castle. The area happened to be where most of the rich families in the city lived, so Emily believed that Anja's family were well off, which they were. So she often liked to make a joke of it, trying to cover the slight jealousy Anja knew she harboured. Her father was a drunkard, making her mother the only bread earner in the family. That wasn't saying a lot since she did menial jobs for the households in their neighbourhood, most of which happened to be families of kids Emily went to school with. It came as no surprise to Anja that those stupid muggle children didn't understand chose to make fun of her hardships.

Anja couldn't help her with her financial problems seeing as she didn't know the first thing about muggle money and she didn't have anyone to help her out with it. If she so much as mentioned it in front of her parents, they would strangle her. So she helped out the only way she knew how to - with magic. Granted, she couldn't perform underage magic, nor did she have a wand yet, but she could channel her accidental magic and make it not-so-accidental and cause people to rip their pants or have their toys burst into flames.

Emily found it entertaining whenever weird things like that happened, so Anja ignored the moral questions surrounding her actions. All that mattered was it made her friend happy, and besides, she only did it to bullies.

"So, instead I thought I could give you something meaningful."

"Like?"

"Like this."

She was holding up a moderately thick book. Anja gently took it in her own hands and turned it over to read the title.

" _Grimms' fairy tales_?" she asked with a small smile.

"It's silly, I know," Emily said, "But it's the first book we ever read together."

Anja shook her head.

"No, it's really not. I like it, Emily. I really do," she said earnestly.

That made Emily smile happily.

They stayed there for another couple of hours, their final moments together filled with discussions of insignificant things and long, sad silences. When it was around two in the night, Anja realised she been there longer than she had originally planned on being. Emily immediately noticed the change in her demeanour and tensed up.

"You have to leave, don't you?"

"Yes."

"I don't want you to."

"I don't want to either," Anja told her truthfully, "But I have to."

Emily nodded.

"I'm never seeing you again, am I?"

"You will," Anja said, "I promise you, you will. Even if it takes years, I promise you I'll come back to see you one day."

Emily smiled, "You always do keep your promises."

"And you don't have to worry about friends," Anja told her, "I'm sure you'll make new ones soon. There have to be some good people around here."

"I'm sure you will too."

"Yeah, right. And maybe Erik Merkatz teases you only because he has the whole Gilbert Blythe thing going on," Anja sassed.

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that," Emily said with a smile.

They smiled at each other unsurely, before Emily pulled her into a hug once again.

"You'll write to me, right?"

"I'll try." But I doubt I can since the only way I know how to is through owls.

"Good. And call me, yeah?"

"Of course." I don't know how to do that either.

"Okay. Okay."

"I-I should leave," Anja said, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the reality of the situation, "My parents will be waiting."

"Oh right. Sorry."

"Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"What for? The book?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"That too," Anja said, "But mostly for being my friend."

Emily smiled warmly, "You're welcome."

Anja walked out of the forest wiping her eyes to hide any traces of the fact that she had been crying. It was a good thing too because when she reached home, her parents were waiting in the living room.

"Where have you been,  _schatzi_?"

"Taking a walk around the grounds one last time," she answered while attempting to hide Emily's gift behind her back.

Her mother looked at her sympathetically.

"Oh, sweetheart. You know how sorry we are that you have to go through this, don't you?"

Anja nodded, wanting nothing more than to be excused so she could hide the muggle book.

"Well, Katrin's getting dressed, you should too," she said, "Mr Lidringen will be here to escort us to the fireplace soon."

"Okay mama," Anja answered, before sprinting upstairs.

Her room was almost completely empty, except for a small trunk full of a couple of clothes and other essentials. Her closet, bookshelves, drawers were all empty and it made her feel oddly melancholic. She didn't care much for the rest of her house, but her room had always been her favourite place in the world. Her parents were the least invasive people she knew and never came into her room. The only people except her who did were their house-elf, Tilly, and occasionally Katrin. So she could freely store all sorts of books, magical and muggle, that she wasn't supposed to have here and not face any repercussions.

She quickly changed into a pale blue blouse and a dark skirt that her mother had purchased for her, and brushed out her hair to make it look presentable.

When she went back downstairs, pulling her trunk behind her, she found Katrin sitting next to their mother and her father was talking to Mr Lidringen.

Soon after she'd made her presence known, the adults quickly conducted a few, last-minute checks before they were on their way.

The shop was small and sold muggle candies, giving the confined room a sickly sweet smell. Anja saw Katrin sneakily pocket a few gold wrapped chocolate bars, but decided to let it go unnoticed. Unlike her sister, she wasn't a snitch.

Her father went through the fireplace first, followed by Katrin, and then her mother. Mr Lidringen smiled as Anja grabbed some of the floo powder in her fist.

"Go on," he encouraged, "They're waiting."

"You won't be coming, will you?" Anja asked him.

"Unfortunately not, Ms Armleder," he said, "I have to stay here with my family and serve the next Minister."

Anja nodded.

"Thank you for helping Papa," she said appreciatively.

"You're most welcome, Miss," he said kindly, "Now, off you go."

"Goodbye."

Anja threw the power in the fireplace which burst into green flames, before jumping in to join her family in their new life together.


	3. A Birthday Party

_June 5, 1991_

_Wiltshire, England_

Anja had spent hours packing the gift herself. It was neatly wrapped in a deep purple wrapping paper with a silver bow on top and stuck to it was a small card that read:  _Happy Birthday, Draco! Love, Anja_.

Anja wasn't particularly friends with Draco Malfoy and in fact, she'd only ever been civil with him and his friends since her family had moved into the manor a few kilometres away from the Malfoys'. 

But her mother had become quite the social butterfly since they'd moved here. She'd managed to get their family in the inner Pureblood circle within a few months, and soon it was like they'd always been a part of it. While her father had decided to take up the job the Minister had offered him, her mother deemed it not close to as good as her job back in Austria and had instead chosen to become a housewife.

Now, with her husband gone all day and Katrin away at Hogwarts, Priscilla spent all her time brunching with her friends and exploring the social scene of the British Wizarding community that her own family was once a part of. Priscilla came from the Pureblood Langsdail family whose lineage unfortunately died down with the marriage of their only daughter. However, that didn't stop witches and wizards from treating her like the royalty that she saw herself as, both in Britain and Austria. As making accquaintances wasn't too difficult for her.

Anja personally didn't mind her family's absence all that much. In fact, she welcomed the solidarity since it gave her a chance to explore all the shelves in her father's study that were off-limits to Katrin and her. There were books on almost every imaginable topic there - lesser known potions, rarest of charms, hidden events in history and most importantly, unorthodox spells.

This particular Wednesday, however, both her parents were home and since Hogwarts was closed for summer vacations, so was Katrin. She could hear her sister singing out loud to  _You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me_  as she got ready for Draco's birthday party. Anja herself had put on a brand new dark blue dress that her mother had purchased for her on one of her many shopping trips and brushed out her hair to make it look presentable.

Once she was done, she grabbed Draco's gift and stuffed it in her pocket, before walking out of her room. 

"Anja, love, are you done getting dressed?" she heard her mom call out from downstairs.

"Yes, mama."

"Will you tell your sister to hurry up too?"

"Okay!"

Anja knocked on Katrin's door a couple of times, but she could tell her sister couldn't hear it over the loud music. So she pushed it open and peered inside, raising a curious eyebrow at the sight before her. Katrin was all dressed up and standing in front of the mirror pulling magically enchanted rollers out of her hair which was now perfectly curled.

Anja discreetly walked over to the radio near her bed and switched it off, making Katrin turn around in surprise.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked with a glare.

"Mama's calling you downstairs. It's time to leave."

"Whatever. Tell her I'll be there in a few seconds," Katrin replied, getting back to her rollers, "Now shoo."

Anja started making her way out.

"You don't have to do all of that," Anja said, before closing the door, "Alistair isn't going to be there."

As she shut the door, she heard something smash against it on the other side.

Downstairs her parents were sitting on the couch in front of the fire, her mother laughing at something her father was telling her. When she noticed Anja, she grinned.

"I told you the dress would look lovely!" she said, brushing a strand of Anja's hair and tucking it behind her ear. 

Anja smiled as she hopped onto the couch across from them as they waited for Katrin to get ready. When she finally skipped downstairs, they made their way to the Malfoy Manor via floo network. 

Every year on Katrin and Anja's birthdays their father decorated the house the night before after they went to sleep to surprise them the next morning. On Katrin's birthday, their entire living house would be covered in violet decorations and on Anja's it would be blue to conform to their favourite colours.

But the Malfoy Manor, as it did every year, looked as grim as ever on Draco's birthday. There was nothing out of the ordinary to suggest that it was the Malfoys' only son's birthday party except the gathering of dark clothed, upright guests in their living room.

Next to her, Anja noticed Katrin immediately make a beeline for the Carrow twins who were both standing in the balcony, laughing. Katrin had become best mates with Flora and Hestia Carrow in the few immediate months after their shift and their friendship had only gotten stronger when all three of them had been sorted into Slytherin house in their first year of Hogwarts. 

Anja started at them with a hint of bitterness before looking around the room once again. Her parents had joined the Notts on the sofa and Anja knew better than to follow them. She wasn't allowed to listen in on the adults talking. 

With disdain, she looked at her only option of company for the evening. Draco, Gregory, Vincent and the two Greengrass sisters. They were sitting near the fire in a circle talking amongst themselves. 

Anja did not particularly mind Draco or Astoria or Daphne, it was Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe that got on her nerves. They were both considerably more bigoted than the rest of the people there. She knew Draco had strong views about certain topics too, but she'd noticed he mostly kept them to himself much like she did. Only, of course, they both had starkly contrasting views.

Everyone greeted her politely when they saw her coming their way, and she sat down between Daphne and Draco. 

"Hey," Anja said with a smile, "Happy Birthday." 

"Thank you, Anja," Draco grinned.

His cheeks were flushed red and his eyes were gleaming. The only rare occasions that he looked so happy were when he'd successfully gotten on his father's final nerves and Lucius Malfoy had relented and given into his son's latest whim.

He was getting something extravagant for his birthday, Anja concluded. 

"Did you get your Hogwarts acceptance letter?" Anja asked him.

Draco nodded with evident pride, "Of course I did. I can't wait to start school, especially after everything Katrin told us last summer. I've never seen a real ghost before! She said there were lots of those!"

"Yeah, each house has it's own," Anja said, but noticed Draco was no longer paying attention to her and was instead poking Gregory in his stubby arm with a wicked grin on his face.

Anja rolled her eyes at his immaturity turned to talk to Daphne and Astoria instead, who kept her busy telling her about the trip their family took to Italy earlier in the year. 

"Children," Narcissa Malfoy called from the dining hall about an hour later, "It's time to cut the cake."

Draco sprung from his seat and trotted towards the dining hall, the rest of his friends following close behind. Anja figured his enthusiasm had more to do with his present than with the rather mundane and trite looking cake.

There was no singing, as per usual, only cutting of the cake and then everyone handing him his gifts. Katrin had gotten him a new pair of expensive dragon hide gloves which from the looks of it he seemed to appreciate. The others had gotten him similar clothing items and books and even Quidditch equipment making Anja feel extremely silly about her own gift.

He was examining the leather school bag that Astoria and Daphne had gifted him when Anja tapped on his shoulder from behind him. Everyone was making their way to where the food was being set up and Anja couldn't think of a better time to give him her gift.

Draco looked at her expectantly and Anja pulled out the small, neatly wrapped box out of her pocket and handed it to him.

"Happy Birthday, Draco!"

Draco grinned and set aside the bag before he began to unwrap her present. Her eyebrows scrunched together in a confused frown as he laid his eyes on the pale blue crystal in his palms. He tested out the moderately heavy rock in her hands by flipping it around and throwing it in the air before catching it back like a snitch, as if trying to figure out if it had any concealed purpose.

"A stone?" he said finally with uncertainty, "Uh, thanks, Anja."

"No! No, Draco! It's not just a stone," Anja said with an encouraging smile, "I've charmed it so that as long as you have it with you, it'll keep you safe from all kinds of danger."

Draco's eyes shone at that. Anja had known he'd be interested in something of this sort, having caught up with his fascination with peculiar articrafts. She'd found the spell in one of her father's confidential books and stole her mother's wand to try and perform the spell.

"Here, if you rub it twice it should shine and activate," she said, "Try it."

Draco grinned excitedly and rubbed the crystal twice gently just like she'd told him. 

Nothing happened.

He gave her another confused glace, before saying, "I'll try again."

Once again, it remained unaltered.

Draco's grin faltered but he managed to maintain a polite, faltering smile.

"It's not working very well, is it?"

"But it should have! I did the spell right, I promise!" Anja said, panicked.

"It's alright," Draco said dismissively, "You can try again later. They'll teach us how to at Hogwarts."

"Yeah," Anja muttered defeatedly, "But I did everything right-"

"Draco! Sweetheart!" Narcissa Malfoy called out from the other room, "It's time to take a look at your special present!"

Draco looked at Anja and shrugged as if you say  _I've got to go_. He hastily tossed her crystal onto the heap of other presents before sprinting out of the room.

Anja stared at it dejectedly for a minute, before picking it up and rubbing it again. Nothing. She frowned and tossed it away just like Draco had. She'd spent hours charming it or at least trying to. 

What a waste of time. But more importantly, why hadn't it worked? She'd thought after spending so many hours of her days researching spells and charms, she should've managed to cast at least one. Disheartened, she joined the rest of them in the other room.

The rest of her evening was a blur of food and chattering and staring at the dull walls of Malfoys' mansion. It was very late when Friedrich and Priscilla finally decided to say goodbye to the Malfoys. They were the only ones left anymore, all the other guests having left.

Katrin was sitting obediently next to her mother, while Draco and Anja were sprawled across the sofas with their feet dangling over the armrests. 

" _Schatzi,_ " Friedrich called out, "It's time to go home."

After a few polite rounds of goodbyes, throughout which Anja carefully avoided Draco's eyes, they flooed back to their own house. 

As Anja and Katrin walked upstairs to their bedrooms, Katrin looked at her curiously.

"You never did tell me what you gifted Draco," she said, innocently enough.

Anja thought about it for a second before smiling glumly.

"A fancy paperweight."


	4. Diagon Alley

_August_ _23_ _, 1991_

_Diagon Alley, London_

"Both of you," Priscilla began sternly, "Do not run off without asking Papa and me for permission. And do not talk to strangers. Understand?"

"Yes, Mama," the two girls chorused with matching grins on their faces.

Today was the promised trip to Diagon Alley, the greatest street of cobbled stone in the world. Anja was, at last, going to buy everything on the Hogwarts school list; a list that included the thing that she had wanted since she could first remember wanting anything – a wand.

Katrin was now entering into her third year at Hogwarts and needed to stock up on supplies as well as picking up textbooks for the new subjects she was taking. Anja could only smirk when she thought about Katrin's choice of Divination as an elective. Care of Magical Creatures she could live with, she thought, as she recalled Katrin's other choice of a second new subject. But –Divination? What a woolly discipline that was. Anja thought her sister would have been much wiser to take Ancient Runes. Anything concerned with the Ancients was music to Anja's ears.

Priscilla and Friedrich led their daughters at a march down Diagon Alley. Anja's eyes scanned from left to right, soaking in the sights of merry wizards and witches laughing or cursing, haggling over prices or peddling their wares. Her mother had her buy her cauldron first, in order to carry the quills, ink bottles, potions ingredients, books and various other items that followed on the list.

She and Katrin were fitted into robes, the thirteen-year-old having grown considerably in just all the right places over summer. Anja had to wonder if maybe Katrin knew more magic than she gave her credit for.

The four stopped at the Owl-arium, where Anja wasted no time in peering at every bird they had.

"Woah," she heard Katrin exclaim somewhere behind her, "I want this one! It's so pretty, Mama! Please, can I get him? The school owls are old and ugly!"

"You already have Cleo, darling," Priscilla chided softly, "You can't take two animals to school with you. And I do not want that cat at home with me all year."

Anja could almost hear her sister's pout.

It took her a few long minutes but she finally settled on one little bird. She was a Barn Owl, barely a few months old, with large, dark eyes and an overenthusiastic hoot.

"This one!" Anja chose with a grin.

The lady at the store helped her get the bird out of its cage and into a new one, before carrying it over to the billing counter.

"What are you going to name her?" the man at the counter asked her as he handed her mother the change.

"I have lots of ideas but I can't decide on anyone," Anja answered sheepishly.

"You'll know when you find the right one," the man said with a kind smile, petting her owl one last time before finally handing it over to her.

Anja hugged the cage tightly as they left the shop.

After making a few more stops they finally arrived at Ollivanders, the moment of truth at hand.

Anja handed her cauldron full of equipment to her mother and her owl's cage to her father, every part of her shaking, before stepping into the musky atmosphere of the wand shop. Her parents and Katrin had decided to wait outside.

 _It's a very personal experience for a young witch, finding her perfect wand,_  her father had said,  _We don't want to intrude_.

Anja was beyond grateful for that.

Once inside, all she could see were towering shelves full of wand boxes, rows and rows of them fading into the dusty light at the back of the store. Anja gave a slight start when an old man appeared in front of her, bespectacled and wearing a strange, rather unnerving grin.

"Ah, yes! I have been looking forward to seeing you. Yes, indeed," the man said in a grave voice.

Anja could not help shivering. The man fixed her with an odd stare as if assessing her for weakness. Anja stood dead still, not willing to show any frailty, as though this might affect the type of wand she received. She wanted the best wand there was; she refused to settle for anything less.

"Anja Armleder," the man said, his voice softer than a slight breeze. "Yes, yes, at last. Come, let's have you try out some wands, shall we? For amusement's sake."

Anja wondered why  _having her try a wand_  would be amusing to the old man. Had she been too silly to think she'd be any good at this? What if she could not find a wand that fitted? What if she was revealed to have been worse than Katrin at magic all along? That would explain why the charm on Draco's present didn't work. Then her magic would be good only to the extent of using enchanted beauty contraptions and barely passing in her classes at school. And talking of school, would they even let her attend Hogwarts?

 _No, these thoughts were ridiculous_ , Anja realised.

Maybe it was just the atmosphere inside Ollivanders, and the odd storekeeper, that made people jittery when they come here. Anja calmed down a lot once she made that realisation.

However, twenty-five wands later and having upturned most of the wand boxes in the store with the powerful blasts that they had issued, Anja was beginning to wonder if she would ever find a wand.

Ollivander, however, seemed delighted by all this. He put his fingers to his chin, scratching it with a bizarre expression on his face. It was as if he had been waiting for something for so long that he had forgotten what it was that he had been waiting for in the first place.

"I think it is time we tried a certain wand," Ollivander hissed under his breath. "Yes, I made this wand sixty seven years ago."

He retreated into the darkest shadows at the back of his store, returning with a terribly dusty box. He opened it, revealing a long, sleek and slender black wand, decorated with streaks of gold in the wood. It was not unlike the colour of Anja's hair.brown wand, decorated with streaks of gold in the wood. It was not unlike the colour of Anja's hair.

"Thirteen and a half inches, Phoenix feather," Ollivander began, in a mysterious tone, "Reasonably supple, made out of Elder wood. Last one I ever made out of elder, Miss Armleder. It's a rare wand wood, I've only ever made a couple of these. Haven't sold a single one. It's reputed to be deeply unlucky, you see, trickier to master than the others. They refuse to obey or respect an owner who they do not believe capable; it takes a remarkable to keep an elder for any length of time. "

"There is an old superstition,  _Of elder, never prosper_ ," he continued fervently, "Baseless, I say! And those foolish who refuse to work with elder do so more because they doubt they will be able to sell their products than from fear of working with this wood. The truth is that only a highly unusual person will find their perfect match in elder, and on the rare occasion when such a pairing occurs, it may be taken as certain that the witch or wizard in question is marked out for a special destiny."

Anja listened to him go on with rapt attention. She felt her palms get sweaty as the nervousness crept back into her system.

"W-why are you showing me this?"

"Because, Miss Armleder," he said quietly, "I felt you. At the moment when I was making this wand, I could feel your essence, your magic surrounding me, despite the fact that you weren't even born. So powerful, so commanding, so-so dynamic."

His eyes were closed and the look on his face suggested he was reminiscing about that day all those years ago.

"When you walked in today, I immediately knew it was you," he said, slowly opening his eyes, "Even after all these years, I recognised the essence of your magic. I've waited years for this Miss Armleder; for you to try out the very best demonstration of my very own craftsmanship and dexterity, the finest of my creations."

His sharp eyes were peering into her brown ones expectantly, making her breathe shakily. Doubts started pouring into Anja's mind once again.

What if she wasn't good enough to use this, obviously special, wand?

It did not matter, because Ollivander thrust the wand into her hand before she could say a word further and urged her to give it a wave.

She did not have to move an inch.

Furious warmth ran the length of her arm, filling her with a sense of astounding power. She felt like she was radiating heat, her feet shaking the ground on which she stood. A gleam of gold appeared at the tip of her wand, shooting out sparks and stars.

"Excellent, excellent," Ollivander heaved. "You will do wondrous things with that wand, young woman, truly wondrous and powerful things."

With that dramatic performance, the old man vanished into the darkest corners of his store.

Anja was immediately reunited with the chilling feeling that great power, good or for evil, resided in that place. She made for the exit at once, after leaving the necessary pile of gold galleons on the counter.

Back at home in the Armleders' house, Anja revelled in the sensation of walking around with a wand in her hand.

At first, her mother and father had been delighted in their darling daughter's newest acquisition.

"It really is beautiful, Anja," Priscilla said, admiring the wand over Anja's shoulder. "It goes well with your hair.''

"Never mind that, my love," Friedrich said, throwing his wife a fond look as though it was typical for her to think about such trivial things. "It's made of a tremendously powerful wood – I knew you'd get a good one,  _schatzi_ , but I must say – Elder wood? That is quite remarkable."

Only Katrin didn't think it was all that remarkable.

"It looks like every other wand I've ever seen before," she'd said with a trace of jealousy in her voice.

Friedrich and Priscilla's patience with Anja began to run out after only a day of complimenting her on her fantastic new wand. Anja had read about hundreds of spells during her childhood and now had the tool with which to make them happen. She went about the house pretending to hex everything that moved and didn't, from the owl to the house-elf to the flowerpots. It made her feel powerful, just holding it in her hands.

By the time thirteen china plates and at least half a dozen of Friedrich's prized expensive articrafts had found their way on to the floor in a thousand pieces, Anja's parents had had enough.

"No more playing around with that wand until you are at Hogwarts," Friedrich had declared at dinner, his famously severe look, that he usually reserved for business, on his face.

"But Papa, please," Anja pleaded. "I'm only practising hand movements!"

"No, I've made my decision," Friedrich said firmly. "I am banning you from toying around with your wand."

"But Papa-''

"Anja," Priscilla intoned softly, seeing a dark frown appearing on her husband's face at this challenge from his normally obedient daughter, "Do as your father pleases."

Anja, one to always keep her opinions to herself, rarely opposed one of her parents, let alone two. So her complaints subsided and she ate the rest of her dinner in glum silence.

The few days until September the first would be the longest of her life, she thought miserably.


	5. The Hogwarts Express

_September 1, 1991_

_England-Scotland_

Anja didn't want to, but she was sitting on the Hogwarts Express with Katrin, Hestia and Flora.

" _Make sure your sister is safe,_ " Priscilla had told Katrin as they'd said their goodbyes at the platform. " _Let her sit with you and your friends on the train. She doesn't know anyone there yet._ "

Katrin had taken her words to heart and wouldn't let her sister leave the compartment. So now Anja was stuck with three annoying, giggling girls on her first ever Hogwarts Express ride.

She'd pulled out  _Hogwarts - A History_ , a book she'd come to adore and trust, and started rereading it. She wanted to be prepared for anything that was thrown her way in classes. However, she was reading her book with only half a mind. The other, curious part of her was listening in on the conversation going on in the compartment.

"What do you think of Cedric Diggory?" Flora asked the other two with a giggle, "He's super fit."

Hestia scoffed, "He's a Hufflepuff, Flora. Are you mental?"

"Not to forget a blood traitor," Katrin added with aversion apparent in her face. "What a waste."

"Yeah," Flora said dejectedly, "You're right."

"If you want to talk about fit  _and_ noble, well, you don't have to look any further than Slytherin," Katrin said with a sly grin.

Flora and Hestia exchanged confused glances.

"Whoever do you mean?" Flora asked.

"I'm not telling," Katrin teased.

"Oh, come on," Hestia groaned, "Do tell. We tell you everything."

Katrin pretended to think hard about it, "I will in due time-"

"She's talking about Nox," Anja deadpanned, tired of their dramatics, "Alaric Nox."

"His name is Alastair!" Katrin corrected.

"See, I was right," Anja smirked, before adding under her breath, "Didn't even take a minute to guess, dimwits."

"But Katrin, isn't he dating that Ravenclaw-what's her name?" Hestia struggled.

"Dorothy Vosen?" her sister offered, "Yeah, they got together over the summer."

"Well, I'll make sure they don't stay that way for too long," Katrin said.

The twins looked at her scandalously.

Just then, the door to their compartment slid open and a short, blond boy with a round face peeped inside, looking as if he was going to pass out any second.

"H-has a-anyone seen a-a t-toad?" he asked quietly, his eyes glued to the ground.

Katrin raised a pale eyebrow, "You could have at least knocked before-"

"No, I'm afraid we haven't," Anja quickly cut her off, "Do you need any help finding it-?"

"N-Neville," the boy replied, "Neville L-Longbottom. And n-no, you d-don't have to t-trouble yourself. I-I've looked all over, d-didn't f-find him."

"Well, good. So you can leave then," Katrin said impatiently, her whole demeanour imploring him to leave.

Anja gave her sister a look of disbelief before getting up and moving to walk out of the compartment, carrying her small bag with her uniform with her.

"Where are you going?" Katrin asked.

"To change."

"You can do that here."

"I want to take a look around," Anja replied, "I'll be back soon."

She pulled the boy, Neville, along with her and made her way to the other side of the train.

"I'm Anja, by the way," she introduced herself to him as they walked side by side. "And excuse my sister, she can be a bit blunt at times."

He gave her a hesitant smile.

There were people passing them in a rush, some students hanging out near compartments, laughing and yelling and casting spells that Anja had only ever read about. One compartment they passed was so crowded and noisy, it looked like a nightmare. There were two boys at the centre of the group - twins, she realised - who were bent over something she couldn't quite see. 

"H-hey?"

Anja turned around to see that Neville had stopped outside a compartment and was looking at her sheepishly.

"I-I, this is my c-compartment," he explained.

"Oh, of course," Anja replied, feeling stupid for pulling him along with her, "What's your toad's name again? I'll keep an eye out for him."

"Trevor," Neville quickly replied with an eagerness that made Anja want to get him all the toads in the world. "He recognises when someone calls for him. He's very smart."

"I'm sure he is," Anja smiled, "I'll tell you if I find anything. See you later, Neville."

"See you," he replied, once again looking downcast.

Anja quickly made her way to the bathrooms and got changed. Her white button-down shirt and pleated skirt were both neatly pressed and robes fit her impeccably. She thought she looked quite sharp and refined.

Anja decided to take her time walking back to Katrin and her friends. Everyone on the train looked as happy and excited and energetic as she felt and it only made her feel more restless.

Now that almost everyone was dressed in their robes, she could easily tell the first years from the rest of them. They didn't have their house ties yet and their robes were still monochromatic. 

She wondered, for the umpteenth time, which tie she'd like to wear. Stylistically, she thought, the blue and green went very well with her blonde hair. The red wouldn't look that bad either. But, Merlin forbid, if she were to get yellow, she could only imagine how horrid she would look. 

There was no way she wanted Hufflepuff. No offence to them, she was sure the house was full of really good people, but they just had the sad fortune of getting an ugly house colour.

Getting into Ravenclaw was her best case scenario.  _Wit and learning -_ sounded like an excellent combination to her. Gryffindor and Slytherin, on the other hand, both had their pros and cons. 

She wasn't too eager to be identified as a Slytherin, to be in the leagues of her mother and sister and the Malfoys and Notts. She had realised at a young age that she wasn't like them. She didn't know what she was, but she knew very well what she wasn't.

Gryffindor, while it sounded like a dream, would only mean having to deal with her parents' disapproval and disappointment for the rest of her life. They hated Gryffindors with a passion that she didn't completely understand. This whole house business was very important to them, especially to her mother who herself had been to Hogwarts. Her father, a Durmstrang student through and through, knew enough to know that Slytherin was the house that came closest to representing the values and beliefs of his Alma Mater. 

So yes, Ravenclaw was neutral ground. A  _best of both worlds_  sort of situation.

When she reached the compartment the three girls were dressed in their robes too. The green really was pretty.

Anja went back to reading her book for the remainder of the train ride. Luckily for her, the girls had exhausted all their gossip material and had now fallen into a comfortable silence. 

About half an hour later, a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The four girls grabbed all their belongings and once the corridor outside their carriage had cleared out a bit, they made their way out too. 

The three older girls could tell that Anja was starting to get nervous. She was constantly fidgeting with her wand which she now held proudly in her hand, the gold details shining magnificently under the corridor lights.

"Relax," Katrin cooed, "You're going to be fine. Mom and I made it in easily, so will you."

That's what she was afraid of. Making it into Slytherin or Hufflepuff.

They all stood for only a moment before the train slowed down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. She'd expected the Hogsmeade platform to be large and grand, so she was slightly underwhelmed.

She grabbed onto Katrin as the night air blasted through the crowd. It was probably somewhere in the low fifties.

"If you thought that Wiltshire was cold you're going to have a serious lesson to learn here in Scotland," Hestia laughed.

They all stood in utter silence before a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students. 

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" A large man called out.

"Harry?" Flora gasped, "You don't think he means Harry Potter, do you?"

"I heard someone say that he was on the train, but I didn't believe it," Katrin said, "Guess it's true."

Anja knew all about who Harry Potter was. A hero of the Wizarding World, that's what. Her books mentioned him among the likes of Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody, Rufus Scrimgeour and Kingsley Shacklebolt. The fact that she would be having someone as proficient and able as him for a peer only made her more nervous. What if she wasn't able to keep up with someone like him? He'd faced You-Know-Who for Merlin's sake and as far as she knew, she hadn't ever come across a Dark Lord in her short life.

The large man's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. 

"C'mon, follow me -- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'years follow me!" 

Anja looked up at Katrin, who gave her an encouraging smile.

"Good luck," she said, "I know you'll do great."

The sisters shared a short hug before Anja joined the giant with the rest of the first years.

Slipping and stumbling, they followed the giant down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Anja thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. 

Neville sniffed once or twice. 

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the giant called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here." 

There was a loud "Oooooh!"The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. Anja stared at it with amazement. Even her castle back in Austria, which she'd always thought was one of the most beautiful buildings in existence, couldn't compare.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the giant called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. 

Anja got into a boat with three other boys who'd introduced themselves as Anthony, Michael and Dean. They all looked just as terrified, so she finally felt a little at ease.

"Everyone in?" shouted the giant who conveniently happened to have a boat to himself. "Right then -- FORWARD!" 

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. 

"Heads down!" he yelled as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. 

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said the giant, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them. 

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Anja smiled. 

Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after the giant's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, Oak front door. 

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" 

The giant raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

"Too late to turn back now, huh?" Anja heard Dean say next to her.

"What idiot would want to turn back from this anyway?" she said. "I can't deal with another boat ride."

He grinned.

 


	6. The Sorting

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the giant. 

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." 

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was humungous. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. 

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Anja could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. Professor McGonagall showed them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses."

She went on to tell them about each of the four houses and the point system, with everyone giving her their utmost attention.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on a redhead's face, who Anja noticed had something on his nose. She herself raked her fingers through her hair and smoothened it out.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. 

Anja stood there obediently and stared around her at the people who would be her classmates for the next seven years. Among the crowd, she noticed Vincent and Gregory towering over the others. Next to them, considerably shorter, was Draco.

She gave him a small wave and he nodded back at her.

Then something happened that made her squeal, several people in front of her screamed.

About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing amongst themselves when a ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. 

"New students!" one ghost said, smiling around at them. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" he said. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. 

One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Anja got into line behind Michael and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. 

The place was just as splendid and strange as  _Hogwarts, A History_  had said it would be. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. 

Professor McGonagall led the first years up here so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Anja located the Slytherin table but failed to find Katrin or even Hestia or Flora among the many students.

Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth -- and the hat began to sing.

It began singing about the four houses and their qualities and how to be sorted they had to put the hat on. Anja noticed a lot of relieved faces around her. She wondered with a smile what it was the people who didn't know about the sorting thought they would be made to do.

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. As she watched the girl get sorted into Hufflepuff, Anja realised with a start that they were going to be called alphabetically. She wanted to throw up. Because that meant she would be called any moment now-

"Armleder, Anja!"

The hall went quiet. Of course, it did. 

"I know that name!" she saw the redhead with the smudged nose from earlier say, "Her father was the previous German Minister of Magic."

 _Austrian_ , she wanted to correct him.

She could feel hundreds of eyes staring at her as she walked ahead and she wondered whether Katrin had gotten the same response and if she had, why hadn't she warned Anja about it.

She sat down on the table, her eyes downcast, and felt the hat being dropped onto her head. She noticed it was heavy.

"That's not very nice."

Startled, Anja looked up with wide eyes.

"I don't get a lot of exercise sitting up on that shelf all year."

She glanced around her but there was no one.

"I'm up here."

She looked up until her eyes were rolling into the back of her head.

The hat - it was the hat talking.

 _Sorry_ , she thought.

"It's alright. I suppose it'll do me good to accept that I'm not as fit and agile as I used to be when I still just a hatling," it said, "Let's get down to business now, Ms Armleder.

"Hmm, so what house should I put you in? One side of the family filled with Slytherins. I remember sorting your sister in Slytherin too, a very easy and transparent choice. But with you it's difficult. A much, much more complicated mind and soul. So divided and always at war with itself."

 _There's no war_ , Anja thought.

"Ah, not yet. So, where do you want to go?"

She didn't have to think much.

 _Ravenclaw_.

"Ravenclaw? Yes, I do see a sharp intellect. Good enough to survive in Ravenclaw, but it would do your creativity no good, nor your courage. Too tame an environment for you, you will work well in extremes. Hufflepuff, too, is out of the question. You would never fit in."

 _Oh, Merlin no_.

"I'm afraid it has to be either Gryffindor or Slytherin. Slytherin runs in your veins, but all around you, all I sense is a Gryffindor waiting to roar. It would do you well, to be one of the lions. I think that's where you belong. That's my final decision. But you can, of course, always decide to choose your own house. So, what will it be? Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?"

Her mind was saying Ravenclaw. She'd thought about it for so many months, she had it all planned. It would please everyone - her parents, her sister.

But looking at the red table, at the warmth radiating off of its inhabitants - a sort of homey feeling that she'd never experienced, she knew in her heart she'd be happy there. Her family wouldn't, but she would. 

She made her decision.

"You've made the right choice. Good luck ahead," the hat said, before announcing out loud, "GRYFFINDOR!"

When she opened her eyes, she saw that the Gryffindor table was roaring with yells and cheers and Anja noticed, bashfully, that the redhead twins from earlier on the train were catcalling. 

"Bones, Susan!" McGonagall called, as she went on with the sorting.

She walked up to the table and sat down opposite a ghost in a ruff and carefully avoided his eyes. She wasn't sure whether she trusted them yet.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin and Anja was forced to come down from her happy high and face reality. She looked around the Slytherin table carefully until she finally noticed Katrin. However, her sister was staring ahead at the sorting with a straight face, unlike her housemates who were clapping and congratulating Millicent.

Anja sighed and looked away. There was nothing she could do anymore.

She began paying attention to the hat once again and noticed that for some it shouted out the house at once, but for others, like herself,  it took a little while to decide.

"Finnigan, Seamus," a sandy-haired boy, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor, while "Granger, Hermione!" a buck-toothed girl took about twenty seconds before she was declared a Gryffindor, too.

Anja watched with amusement as Neville Longbottom was called and he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with him. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Draco swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!" He went to join Vincent and Gregory, looking pleased with himself. 

After him "Nott, Marcus" and "Parkinson, Pansy" got into Slytherin, then a pair of twin girls, "Patil, Padma" and "Patil, Parvati" got separated into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw and a couple of others passed before:

"Potter, Harry!"

The silence this time was a million times more deafening than the one during Anja's own sorting.

Anja watched as a thin boy with crooked glasses and hair as midnight black as her own stepped forward, and whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

Everyone in the hall was craning to get a good look at him. He sat on the stool and McGonagall dropped the hat onto his head. 

The hat took as long with him as it did with Anja. It had to be at least a minute. People around her were sitting with their fingers crossed, each wishing that Harry Potter be sorted into their house. Anja herself thought he would make a good Gryffindor. What better house for someone who defeated You-Know-Who than the house of bravery.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Anja grinned as she saw him take off the hat and walk shakily toward the Gryffindor table. She noticed with amusement that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. One of the Prefects got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the redhead twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" 

Anja looked at Harry nervously as he sat down in the seat right next to her. The ghost across from them patted his arm, making him shiver. 

He then looked over to his other side before looking over at her.

Anja held his gaze as confidently as she could, considering how amazingly brilliant his eyes were.

"Hi," he finally said.

"Hey."

"I'm Harry," he introduced timidly as if he wasn't sure how to proceed with this.

"I noticed," Anja said, making him grin crookedly. "I'm Anja."

"I noticed, too," he said.

They started at each other for a while longer before Anja cleared her throat and Harry looked away and up front at the High table. She waw him grin at someone. Anja followed his line of sight and saw that it was the giant man from the boat ride.

"Who is he? He never did introduce himself," Anja asked before she could stop herself. 

"Oh," he muttered, "You mean Hagrid?"

Anja nodded.

"He's the Hogwarts groundskeeper," Harry answered.

"You know him?" Anja inquired.

Harry nodded, "He was the one who first told me about everything. You know, that I was a wizard and about Hogwarts."

Anja had so many questions when he said that, but she knew better than to bombard him with more than she already knew he would be getting on a daily basis now.

So she nodded and smiled, "That's nice that you already have a friend here."

Harry smiled at that, "I made another friend, too, on the train. His name's Ron. In fact, he's about to get sorted."

They both turned to the front once again just in time to see the boy with the smudged nose plop down on the stool.

"That's him," Harry said, "That's Ron."

Ron was visibly pale green as McGonagall placed the hat on his head. It was barely on before it announced "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron walked over and collapsed into the chair on the other side of him.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said the redhead Prefect pompously across them as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. Anja figured they were brothers.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat back down. 

Everybody clapped and cheered. 

Anja didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"Is he.. a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy uncertainly.

"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of them were now piled with food. He looked pleased yet confused at the same time.

"Everything okay?"

He looked up at Anja sheepishly, "I was half expecting them to serve us eyeballs and livers to channel our magic."

Anja shook her head and said in all seriousness, "They don't start serving the livers until the second week."

"And it's the hearts the week after that," Added one of the redhead twins.

"Then it's the lungs," his twin said.

"And then we keep going and going until we devour the whole body," they both said in such perfect synchrony that they made Anja almost believe her own lie.

Harry looked terrified.

Anja grinned and said, "We're just joking. You'll get this all year."

Harry gave her and the twins a look of disbelief before beginning to pile his plate with a bit of everything. 

"Hungry?" Anja asked him.

He grinned happily, having forgotten all about livers and lungs, with a mouth full of roast chicken.

"Yefsh," he replied.

Seamus and Ron began to engage the ghost, Nearly Headless Nick in a conversation about his Nearly Headlesness that Anja decided she could live without. She only started paying attention when they brought up Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year?" Nick was saying, "Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost."

Anja looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Draco who didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. 

Anja picked a few strawberries, while Harry went for the treacle tart. Ron, she noticed, tried a helping of everything.

They listened to Seamus and Neville tell them stories about their families, and Anja didn't remember the last time she'd felt so included in a group as she did then.

"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.

"Are you alright?" Anja asked him.

"Y-yeah, I think so," he answered, his frown directed towards the High Table. "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" 

"Which one's Quirrel?" Anja asked him in turn.

"The one with the turban."

Anja looked over at the High Table herself and immediately understood who Harry was talking about.

"That's Professor Snape" she answered, having seen him at a couple of the Malfoys' gatherings. "He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to. Papa says he's always wanted to teach Defense against the Dark Arts. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts."

Soon the desserts disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

"Ahern -- just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the redhead twins who Anja had found out were Ron and Percy's brothers. She'd heard the Weasleys were a large family so she had no doubt in her mind that they had more siblings.

"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.

"He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us, prefects, at least."

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. 

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed out the song together. Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase towards their Common Room. The reached their Common Room a good fifteen minutes later, but not before a short but unwelcome cameo from Peeves the Poltergeist.

"Here we are," Percy announced.

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said. 

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall.

 They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs. Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. 

At the top of a spiral staircase - they were obviously in one of the towers - they found their beds at last. Five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. 

Anja found out her roommates, who introduced themselves as Parvati Patil, Hermione Granger, Fay Dunbar and Lavender Brown, to all be quite pleasant. They were, however, too tired to exchange any more words beyond a simple introduction and almost immediately all dozed off to sleep. All but one.

While Anja's four new roommates slept thinking happy thoughts of hexing Slytherins into oozing blobs of slug and worm, she could only think about one thing. 

She was at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her journey to becoming the great witch she'd always dreamt of being had begun at last.


	7. Bullies

Anja's first week at Hogwarts was just as she'd expected - filled with classes and schoolwork.

She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Katrin until Tuesday evening when she passed by her after Herbology class.

"Katrin! Katrin!" Anja called out to her sister.

Katrin stopped in her tracks and glanced back around to look at her. Anja saw her visibly sigh before she made her way towards her.

"Is there something you need?" Katrin asked shortly.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you," Anja replied.

"About what?"

"Well, t-the sorting," Anja said, "Me getting into Gryffindor."

Katrin made a face, "There's nothing to talk about there."

Anja bit her lip, "I know you're mad, but-"

"Mad?" Katrin repeated with a laugh of disbelief, "Anja, I'm not mad. I'm disgusted. And shocked."

"But it's just a house Katrin-"

"You don't get it, do you? You don't understand," Katrin exclaimed, "It's not  _just_ a house. It is something that defines you as a person. Do you have any idea what it if Gryffindors are known for? Being buddies with blood traitors and-"

"Katrin, that's quite enough."

She laughed derisively, "Oh, look! You've already become one of them. Did you even think about how Papa and Mama would feel?"

"I'll explain it to them properly, they'll understand-"

"I already told them," Katrin admitted smugly, "Didn't seem too happy. Papa wanted to see Dumbledore and have him put you in Slytherin, he thought it was a mistake. But Mama told him that wasn't how it worked. You wouldn't be in Gryffindor if you weren't like them."

Anja swallowed harshly, ignoring the tears welling up in her eyes.

"A word of advice - don't write to them. They don't want to hear from you right now," Katrin said, "And another thing, it's bad enough having to share a last name with you, I don't need you talking to me when there are people around."

Anja noticed for the first time that she hadn't been alone. Behind her, there was a handsome, blonde boy, who she assumed was Alastair staring at Anja with a slightly disgruntled expression.

"Okay," she said with a shaky voice, "I won't trouble you."

"Good," Katrin nodded. She looked like she wanted to say something else too, but instead just settled on "Bye now."

Anja spent an hour in the bathroom after that encounter.

Other than that, her classes were going extremely well. 

She found that one of her favourite subjects, History of Magic, was taught by a ghost. How Katrin failed to ever mention that piece of information to her was beyond her. Professor Bins was an alright teacher, but he certainly had an advantage with his class since being a ghost he probably lived through half the incidents he taught about. 

Professor Sprout, who taught Herbology, was very capable and it helped that Anja found Herbology to be quite interesting. She'd never seen it in the same light before, having always focused her energies on subjects she deemed more practical. Like DADA, for example. However, while her DADA textbook was far more interesting than any other, she found Professor Quirrell to be, for a lack of a better word, pitiful. He was always stuttering and nervous and nothing like she imagined a Defensive Arts teacher to be. She'd taken to studying the textbooks on her own after every lesson to teach herself things Quirrell couldn't.

Another class she'd decided was a waste of her time was Astrology. What was the purpose behind learning the names of stars and the movements of the planets? How was it ever going to help them? And they had to take five years of that, too!

Two teachers she gained an instant liking and respect towards were their charms teacher, Professor Flitwick and transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall. Anja admired both of their teaching styles and the amount of time and efforts they obviously took in planning and preparing for each class. 

The only one class they were yet to attend was Potions with Professor Snape. And Anja didn't know what to expect. She knew Katrin and her friends really liked him, so he couldn't be all that bad, could he? It was on Friday at breakfast when she sat next to Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter that she got information that worried her a bit.

"We have Double Potions with the Slytherins," Ron was telling Harry. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them, we'll be able to see if it's true."

"Wish McGonagall favoured us, " said Harry.

Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.

"My sister is in Slytherin," Anja told them, "She says he's really good to them. So it might be true."

"Is she really?" Ron asked with wide eyes.

"Yes."

He narrowed his eyes, "Is there any chance you know where their Common Room is? Fred and George say it's under the Black Lake. At first, I thought it was true, but I'm only now finding out that half the things they've told me about Hogwarts are lies!"

Harry snickered.

"Well, I know that it's somewhere in the dungeons," Anja said uncertainly.

"That's something to go on," Ron said, "I'm going to find out the truth sooner or later. They can't keep fooling me forever."

Harry and Anja shared a look. 

Just then, the mail arrived, with about a hundred owls suddenly streaming into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps. 

A white owl flew towards their part of the table and dropped a letter onto Harry's lap before sitting on his shoulder and nipping his ear.

As Anja was petting the beautiful bird, a Great Gray Owl whizzed past her, startling her. It quickly took a U-turn and landed on the table in from of her. It was  _Horus_ , their family Owl. Anja knew she was going to receive a seething letter from her parents sooner or later so she'd tried to prepare herself for it. But the moment she saw the red envelope, she found herself petrified with fear. 

She'd never received a howler before. She'd never thought she would either, considering how sophistication and refinement her parents practised when it came to their speech patterns. They were politicians, they maintained a calm tone.

But she realised she'd pissed them off enough to resort to sending her a howler.

Harry and Ron, who were chatting amongst themselves, noticed how she'd gone still.

"You alright, Anja?" Harry asked.

She shook her head slowly.

"What's the matter?"

Before she could say anything, Ron gasped. 

"She's got a howler!" he exclaimed, making all eyes turn to them.

"What's that?" she heard Harry ask.

"I-I-" she muttered, staring at Ron helplessly, "I don't know what to do. I've never done this before."

"Done what? What's going on?" Harry asked in frustration.

"You'd better open it, Anja," said Neville in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. Mygran sent me one once, and I ignored it and" — he gulped —"it was horrible." 

Harry looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope. 

"What's a Howler?" he repeated. 

But everyone's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners. 

"Open it," Ron urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes —" 

Anja stretched out her shaking hand and held the envelope away from her, before slitting it open. 

Ron stuffed his fingers in his ears.

A roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling. 

"ANJA ELKE ARMLEDER! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? GETTING SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOUR MOTHER AND I HAVE HAD TO HAVE THE KIND OF RESPECT WE DO? AND YOU THROW ALL THAT AWAY IN A SECOND LIKE THAT?"

The plates and spoons on the table rattled, and her father's voice echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swivelling around to see who had received the Howler, and Anja wished for the first time she had long hair so she could hide behind it. 

 "GRYFFINDOR? GRYFFINDOR? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE DONE? I HAVE NEVER FELT SO HUMILIATED MY ENTIRE LIFE!" 

Friedrich Armleder's voice sounded the most resentful Anja had ever heard him sound. His accent wasn't even as strong anymore as it sounded right now. 

"AND YOU DON'T EVEN WRITE TO US ABOUT IT! WE HAD TO FIND OUT FROM YOUR POOR SISTER! SHE'S ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED BY YOUR ACTIONS!"

 _Oh yes. Poor, poor Katrin_ , Anja thought. She wasn't so shocked anymore as she was pissed off.

"ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED AND DISAPPOINTED IS HOW WE FEEL! YOUR MOTHER TELLS ME THAT HOUSE IS MADE OF HALF BLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS AND MUD-"

Almost reflexively Anja threw the goblet of pumpkin juice next to her onto the Howler before her father could utter the next words she knew he was about to. It went silent, as if in shock, and Anja took the moment to grab it and tear it into two pieces, then four, and then eight. Then toss it onto the table in front of her.

A ringing silence had fallen. Someone muttered something and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again. 

"Was that your father?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"He's not a big Gryffindor supporter, is he?"

Anja shook her head in embarrassment.

"My mother's family was full of Slytherins and my Dad went to a school which was basically full of people would be sorted into Slytherin," Anja answered before groaning, "I knew this was coming! Oh, Merlin, I'm in so much trouble!"

"You know you could've chosen Slytherin. The hat allows you to choose," Harry told her quietly as Ron went back to eating his food seeing as they only had a few more minutes left before class.

"I know," Anja replied with a smile, "I didn't want to go there. Not the friendliest bunch, those snakes. Trust me, I've grown up around them."

Harry smiled mysteriously.

"What? What is it?"

He hesitated for a minute, before saying, "I could've chosen Slytherin too."

He gave her a meaningful look before going back to his breakfast.

Anja didn't get the full story, but she understood what he was trying to tell her. That Slytherin had been a choice for him too at some point. And just like her, he didn't take it.

Soon after breakfast was over, Anja found herself walking to their first Potions class with. Professor Snape's lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Anja took a seat between Hermione Granger and Fay Dunbar and noticed Ron and Harry right in front of her.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."

Draco, Vincent and Gregory sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. 

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began in barely more than a whisper. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stop death - if you aren't big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Next to Anja, Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Anja looked at Harry to see the confusion on his face. He clearly didn't know the answer. Anja realised he hadn't read the textbook in advance, but the answer was mentioned in one of the later chapters.

However, one person who certainly did know was Hermione, because her hand had shot into the air immediately.

"I don't know, sit," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."

He ignored Hermione's hand.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat. And Harry once again looked absolutely stumped. Anja noticed that Draco and his cronies were now shaking with laughter and she felt angry with herself for ever even associating with them.

Anja decided she wasn't Professor Snape's biggest fan. The way he was targeting Harry was blatantly unfair, and he wasn't even trying to hide his dislike towards a student. After her father's howler, there was only so much bullying she could take for one day.

She discreetly leaned forward and whispered in a low voice so only Harry could hear her, "A goat's stomach, Harry. You'll find a bezoar there."

"A bezoar is found in a goats stomach, sir," Harry replied out loud immediately.

"That is the correct answer-" Snape began, looking even more menacing now, "-Ms. Armleder. How kind of you to help Mr Potter out."

Anja gulped.

"I-I just-"

"Expect another howler from your father tomorrow morning," Snape said with a slight curl of his lips, "That will help you remember not to answer out of turn."

Anja's stomach filled with dread at that, and she was sure she now looked visibly paler. If there was one thing her father hated, that was indiscipline. She could hear Draco's snickers once more, this time at her misfortune, but she couldn't care less about that git.

"And you," Snape turned to Harry, "Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter? One more try since we were so rudely interrupted last time. What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling. 

"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

A few people laughed; Snape, however, was not pleased.

"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. 

"For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons," he said with a glare directed straight at Anja, "As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. 

Over the noise, Snape said, "And two points will be taken from Gryffindor House, one point for your cheek, Potter. And once for your arrogance, Armleder."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Draco, which didn't come as a surprise to Anja seeing as Draco was his godson. 

He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Draco had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilt potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.

"You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

Then his eyes fell on Anja and he continued, "And you! Didn't feel the need to help out now, Armleder?"

She was glad he didn't deduct another point-

"Another point from Gryffindor for refusing to help out when needed."

 _Dammit_.

As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Anja was feeling unbelievably dejected. The only thing she felt somewhat good about was the fact that Harry and Ron were walking with her, so she didn't have to wallow in her misery alone. She had Harry to keep her company.

"Cheer up," said Ron trying to ease them up, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"

"Yeah," Harry muttered, and turned to Anja, "You can come along too if you want."

At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Anja found that Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. 

When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang - back."

Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.

"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."

He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. 

Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.

"This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest. And who are ye?"

Anja waved at him awkwardly, "I'm Anja. Anja Armleder. It's nice to meet you."

She extended her hand for him to shake, which he did, shaking her whole body with it. She felt dizzy.

 "Heard about yer father," he said, "They say he ran away from yer country after stealin' lots a'  money."

Anja felt her cheeks warm up as Ron and Harry perked up at that bit of information.

She shrugged trying to appear nonchalant, "It's true, actually"

Hagrid scratched his beard, "Sorry, thought they 'ere jus' ol' rumours."

"It's alright."

"We're sure he's a good guy," Harry said quickly, probably sensing her uneasiness.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that after that howler today," she said with a sad smile, "I mean, I always knew my family had certain... prejudices, but I-I guess I just always ignored them. They are my parents after all."

"But you can't anymore?" Harry asked.

"Not after today," Ron said, giving her a look. 

Anja nodded. She knew Ron knew what her father was about to say before she stopped him. She'd never expected her parents' blood purity ideals to be so far stretched, and she didn't think she could ever go back from that.

"Rock cakes, 'nyone?" Hagrid asked.

The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry, Anja and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. 

Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students. He immediately changed the subject and started talking to Ron about his older brother Charlie who worked with dragons.

While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cosy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet. Anja scooted closer to him and he held it between them.

_**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST** _

_**Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day." But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.** _

"What is it?" 

Harry frowned, "Ron told me that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but I didn't know that it happened on the 31st of July."

"What's so special about the 31st of July?"

"It's my birthday," Harry said, "It was the day Hagrid first took me to Diagon Alley."

Anja frowned, still confused.

Harry turned to Hagrid, "Hey, Hagrid! That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

 _Oh_. 

Hagrid avoided Harry's eyes and grunted, before offering him another rock cake. 

Harry went back to reading the story again.

"The vault that was searched had been emptied earlier that same day," he whispered to Anja, "Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen that day. He took out a grubby little package and told me it was some top secret thing that Dumbledore had told him to retrieve."

"You think that's what the thieves were looking for?" 

Harry and Anja exchanged a look.

As the three of them walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Anja thought that none of the lessons she'd had so far had given her as much to think about as what Harry had just told her. 

What was the deal with this top secret package? What was so important that someone would try to break into a place like Gringotts.

Something told her there was going to be more to this.


End file.
